Mid-Season Grade: D-minus

Well sports fans, the Cavs have played 41 games, which means it’s time for mid-season grades for Larry Hughes!

Games Played: Grade = D
Larry missed 34% of the first 41 games due to a bone bruise injury sustained in mid-November. When you’re making $12 million a season, missing fourteen games in the first half of the season is 14 too many.

How bad has his shooting been? His 33% on field goals ranks him DEAD LAST out the 65 shooting guards in the NBA.

And his 3 point shooting percentage is even worse. Did you know that Manute Bol shot better on 3-pointers in his 92-93 season than what Larry is tossing up in 2007-2008? For those of you who are too young to remember, Manute had such an awkward shot that teammates and fans alike would laugh at the sight of him taking a three pointer. But Manute still shot better than Larry this season. Making this more unbelievable is that Manute had a birth defect that left his right hand with 3 clawed fingers. It’s true!

Some may ask ”what about his 86% FT shooting in the first half?” and I say… WHO CARES! He’s only averaging 1.6 FT attempts per game and he’s had ZERO free throw attempts in 17 out of the 27 games he’s played this season.

And for those Hughes fans that blame Mike Brown’s offense because it doesn’t suit Larry’s awesome ”slasher” capabilities, I present to you this stat: Larry is shooting 29-79 (36%) on shots within 2 feet of the basket. Wouldn’t the area right underneath the basket be the ultimate “slasher zone” for a slasher? Or is he a medium-range-slasher?

Player Efficiency Rating: Grade F

This is a nifty stat provided by ESPN’s John Hollinger. If you’re not familiar with PER, here’s a quick explanation:

The formula, which Hollinger calls the Player Efficiency Rating (PER), takes into account positive accomplishments, such as field goals, free throws, 3-pointers, assists, rebounds, blocks and steals, and negative ones, such as missed shots, turnovers and personal fouls. The formula adds positive stats and subtracts negative ones through a statistical point value system. The rating for each player is then adjusted to a per-minute basis so that, for example, you can compare subs with starters in frequent playing time debates. It is also adjusted for the team’s pace. In the end, one number sums up the players’ accomplishments (the statistical ones, anyway) for that season.

So how does Larry Rank?
#60 out of 65 Shooting Guards in the NBA
#277 out of 297 players in the NBA.

The Intangibles: Grade = D+

Another stat that attempts to measure the intangibles is the “On Court vs Off Court Data” provided by 82Games.com. It’s a simple concept: it examines how a team plays with and without a player. It gives a pretty good sense of how well that player is fitting in with the roster and gets at all of the ‘little things’ that current statistics don’t track (setting screens, taking charges, drawing double teams, etc).

The Cavaliers score .5 fewer points on offense when Larry is in the game. And on defense they give up 2.1 more points, which means Larry scores -2.6 for this stat. Translation: the Cavs perform better with him OFF the court than with him on the court. (Note: his +/- was -5 before Wednesday’s blowout against the Wiz.) While some may consider this stat to be unfair because Larry hasn’t played in all the games this year, his 2007-2008 performance is actually better than his Plus/Minus from the 2006-2007 season.

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Final Grade: D-minus

It’s no secret that Larry’s been struggling all season, but it’s shocking that his crappiness has been so consistent. Larry has failed to shoot better than 37% in consecutive games all season. He’s shot worse than 35% in 17 games and he’s shot below 50% in 22. If he’s a streaky shooter, this is the longest bad streak of his career.

So why not an F? Well, he’s got decent rebound stats, and we have a few commenters here that insist he’s a great defensive contributor to this team. (Mind you, this is not 2004 and he’s not playing for the Wizards.) And I’m sure they haven’t noticed the trend of Mike Brown benching our defensive wunderkind during 4th quarter crunchtime, but I’m sure that’s the right way to handle a player of Larry’s defensive prowess.

With numbers like these…

If Larry Hughes was still in high school, he would have been demoted to the JV team. If Larry was in college, they would have shipped him off to the intramural leagues. But Larry plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers, so it only makes sense that he’s been promoted to be our starting point guard.

33 responses so far ↓

[…] clefan wrote a fantastic post today on “Mid-Season Grade: D-minus”Here’s ONLY a quick extractIf Larry was in college, they would have shipped him off to the intramural leagues. But Larry plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers, so it only makes sense that he’s been promoted to be our starting point guard. Manute Bol on Guitar. […]

I’m starting to hate Ray Allen, Michael Redd, and Joe Johnson more and more each day … any one of those three playing the “2″ for the Cavs and we would have a Championship by now. It was not Ferry’s fault or Hughes’s fault that those guys didn’t want to come here. I guess people just really don’t want to come to (or stay in) Cleveland.

This is my new favorite website. When I went to the Cavs/Wizards game they announced that it was Larry Hughes’ birthday. The birthday announcement was the only time all game he received applause.
On a side note I believe that Sasha injured his foot on Hughes’ dunk. I am a firm believer that Larry Hughes is the cancer that is eating away our fine team.

silly lakers fans… but that.s what you get when yer heroes are adulterers, cheaters, cry babies and … well the list goes on.. but i.ll keep it rated PG. (why do laker fans come on here anyway?)

back to larry hughes!!! — he is truly a modern day marvel… i.m speachless. isn.t there a clause in his contract.. that says.. if you suck really really really bad…(which he does) that we can fire him… and he goes home and doesn.t get any more $$$…. there sure as hell should be.

(i.m in shock of how people get to this website who LIKE LARRY HUGHES! it.s astonishing! when i searched for this site i looked up, larry+hughes+sucks! and bingo here i am! how do non-minion supportive man stalkers (whatever that means…??) and laker fans who like hughes arrive here?)

non-minions are amazing people! kudos to non-minions! NON-MINIONS UNITE!!!! (wait, what did i say? i feel like beetlejuice is guna knock on my door now)

HAHAHAHAH!!!!! SPEAK LOUDLY MINIONS!

hughes had a good game!!!!! too bad i missed it…. (oh and we still lost with his good game, which should be an average $12million night for him)

better yerself by refraining from commenting on this website, and also by no longer telling me what to do….. what makes you think i live in the same time-zone as you nerd alert? - guy who likes to say what time i commented on a webpage (STALKER!!!)

oooo i can.t wait until the new post comes out today… i.m stuck here with nerd alert: reading old posts!

I am sending this out to Joe…AKA-Laker fan.
Joe, allow me to introduce you to the English language.
English language …this is Douchebag
Douchebag…this is the English language.
There, now all introductions have been made.
Reading your post has just caused me to pound 4 Motrin due to the incredible headache that it has caused. If you did not complete the 4th grade, please don’t attempt to communicate with those of us who know basketball, and those of us who understand that Larry Hughes is a huge waste of 12 million. Even if his shot selection continues to suck (which is about 100% likely), a starting point guard should average more than 2-3 assists per game. Why don’t you go back to your Laker site,http://www.kobewasjusthelpingthatchickgetoverafence.com

im a laker fan, but i realize that kobe is WAY WAY WAY more of a ballhog than lebron. lebron is way to unselfish. lebron can average 40 and still get 5 assist, but he takes possesions off to get his team involved. lebron is one of the most unselfish players in the legaue and he is arguably the best.

I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth repeating - the nature of PER actually OVERvalues his contribution to the team. With PER, as long as a player shoots at least 33% (!), his score will rise as he takes more shots. So even the worst ’shooting’ guard in the NBA will raise his PER score by taking more shots.

A better metric is Win Score, which shows how pathetic Larry has been this year. He really, truly, has made the team worse with his presence.

I was reading through these posts at work and I can’t hold back laughing anymore I feel so sick I think i might throw up. I am going to have to restrain myself and read the rest of this at home. BRB going to go laugh in the toilet.

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